Technology Offers An Edge To Disabled Seeking Jobs

OPENING DOORS

January 20, 2000|By Mona Hughes

A new nonprofit group in the state is working to help develop and provide access to the latest technology for the disabled.

The mission of Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, or FAAST, is to enhance the quality of life for all Floridians with disabilities by promoting access to, awareness of, and advocacy for assistive technology.

It provides help with information about technology, and when possible, furnishes equipment. Equipment may be made available when consumers donate some they no longer need or have outgrown.

Assistive technology is defined by the 1998 Assistive Technology Act as equipment ``that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.''

Originally funded by federal grants, FAAST in 1997 became a private nonprofit corporation governed by a board of directors appointed by the Secretary of the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security. Fifty-one percent of board members must have a disability or a family member with a disability.

FAAST's Web site says Florida ranks third in the United States in numbers of people with disabilities, and more than 70 percent of Florida's 1.4 million people with disabilities are underemployed or unemployed.

FAAST has goals for assistive services in Florida that might change these figures in the future. It plans to:

Increase the availability of public funding for, and access to, assistive technology services and devices.

Create a delivery system with coordination between organizations and agencies throughout the state.

Develop strategies to ensure timely acquisition and delivery of assistive technology to those with disabilities.

Co-sponsor public education programs on assistive services and technology.

Provide materials to a broad base of organizations, agencies and programs.

Remove barriers to improve access to assistive technology.

Support legislation that promotes the provision of assistive technology.

Empower individuals with disabilities and family members, by increasing choice and control in selection and procurement of devices and services.

A recent FAAST newsletter contains a wealth of information ranging from descriptions of the latest technology such as the Dialogue RC-200 Hands-free Phone; the Can-do Recorder that includes Braille and drawn figures recorder capability; the Quicktionary Readingpen that reads words aloud, and the Zoomtext Xtra 7.0 Program for low-vision software. The newsletter is available twice a year.

Additionally, FAAST is co-hosting several video conferences on procedures for obtaining reimbursement from Medicare and HMOs for Augmentative/Alternative Communication Devices. For more information and reservations for these video conferences, call (813) 251-7591.

There are four locations of FAAST centers or satellite offices, with a variety of services available at each. Some offer databases of venders, products, service providers, and programs for technology available in each area. Others may offer equipment loans. These services are available for those with disabilities starting at birth.

Almost any person with a disability, or parent of a child with a disability, knows that having the right equipment helps develop self-sufficiency in almost everyone. It also reduces the stress of learning to live with the physical and emotional frustrations of dealing with a disability in a world made for those without them. FAAST might be able to provide the help you need.